The Columbus College of Art and Design

Date: Mar 19 2017
Major: Other (This Major's Salary over time)
I am a third-year Illustration major. I came here as a non-traditionally-aged student who has been in the job market for years, and I was assured by Admissions that CCAD is equipped and receptive to older students… the old "it's never too late!" spiel. However, there is absolutely NO program or even an idea for a program for people who are ADULT and come here to formalize their credentials and improve their careers. As a matter of fact, it has been like pulling teeth to get anyone to even acknowledge my years of experience as a professional and as a published illustrator (prior to enrolling in this school). Most instructors in the Illustration department treat the students as competition, because most of them are working illustrators as well. When I have approached and met to discuss my concerns given my very expensive and daunting situation, the consensus from most faculty and administration has been "most of our non-traditional students tend to drop out without telling us why," and even worse (from multiple professors) "I don't know how you've done it this long." This does not instill any confidence in me that they have any interest whatsoever in my success, but rather are concerned with enrollment numbers and keeping warm bodies in classrooms.

I feel that I was open and communicative about my goals in coming here, and for three years I have had to prove I could crawl through fundamental drawing courses and basic art classes at a very high cost. The entire first two years were devoted to CORE studies.

One of the selling points of this college for me was the 'MindMarket,' which was a program to pair students with national businesses like L Brands, Harley Davidson, and Airstream. Between the time I was accepted and started, the MindMarket had been scrapped completely, and the space is now used for business courses. Career Services offers plenty of options for low-paying work or work for exposure, which most Illustration professors here admonish against EVER taking. They do seem to connect students with businesses for unpaid internships, however.

There is a general sense here of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing as far as planning, administration, and execution. The school has had 3 different presidents since I enrolled. This year, the marketing department created a PR nightmare by releasing an unrefined, unfinished student-designed mascot (this school has no varsity sports at all) to the mainstream media extremely prematurely, resulting in public ridicule and backlash, both from the Columbus community and alumni.

I have also had 3 different academic advisers in 3 years. Standards for admission have been consistently lowered, including the removal of any portfolio review process. This did not seem to improve enrollment numbers much, and actually lowered the baseline quality of student work.

CCAD touts itself as a 4-year college, but in actuality the only way to graduate in 4 years is to take 15 credit hours every semester, never drop a class, and never fail a class, unless you want to pay for summer class out of pocket. I might add that the sheer amount of homework is equivalent to Yale and Harvard, and CCAD loves to brag about this as a point of pride for students. It should be noted that the Counseling and Wellness Center is so overrun with students suffering from anxiety and depression that they can literally not take any more students in for free counseling.

One of the greatest things about CCAD is its commitment to diversity in gender, sexuality, race, etc. However, this is such a point of focus that classroom time is largely spent on allowing students to endlessly express their opinions. Project critiques have a lot more to do with discussing feelings than the art itself, and all too often, the whole class is prompted to clap for every project done by every student, regardless of whether it is finished, on time, or of any artistic merit.

I am going deep in debt for the first time in my life to start my professional art career in earnest, and I honestly think that I could've saved tens of thousands of dollars and mountains of stress by just devoting this time to learning on my own.

I have definitely learned things here that will help me in my career, but overall, I believe this school is much more concerned with finances and socio-political issues than the success of its students.

Shop for an art college very carefully. Visit the school often if you are interested. Ask them hard questions. I don't want to see anyone else in my position.